Clip report cover having a clip edge that can be lowered into a groove or a slit

ABSTRACT

A clip report cover for unpunched documents ( 16 ) comprises a U-shaped clip element that is formed by a retaining piece ( 7 ), a connecting rib ( 8 ), and a clip piece ( 9 ) and extends across the clip report cover in the swiveled-in or inserted state. The clip edge ( 12 ) of the clip piece ( 9 ) is lowered beyond the clip plane ( 19 ) of the retaining piece ( 7 ), preferably into a clip slot ( 14 ) configured in the retaining piece ( 7 ) or a retaining piece groove such that the documents remain securely clamped even after reducing the stack height.

The invention relates to a clip report cover for unpunched documents,consisting of a report cover back and a report cover front, and asubstantially U-shaped elastic clip element which extends across thereport cover back and the report cover front in a swivelable or movablemanner and which has a retaining piece engaged with the report coverback and a clip piece with a clip edge, which clip piece is elasticallyattached to the retaining piece by means of a connection rib and islowered towards the front edge of the retaining piece.

Clip report covers or folders for loosely inserted, unpunched documentsusually consist of a report cover back and a report cover front whichare connected at a longitudinal side by means of a fold. A paper stackinserted into the clip report cover or folder is clamped between theback and the front of a substantially U-shaped clip element which ismade of elastic material and which is movably attached in the middle ofthe folder and close to the fold, and which extends across the outersurfaces of the folder without damaging the inserted paper in anundesired manner.

For a clip report cover known from EP 0 609 568, the clip elementconsisting of an elastic material, for example plastic or sheet metal,comprises a substantially planar retaining piece which is attached withits upper end to the report cover back and which is swivelable about avertical axis, and an elastically configured clip piece which isintegrally molded by means of a connection rib onto the longitudinalside of the retaining piece. The retaining piece is formed longer thanthe clip piece, wherein on an upper elongated end of the retainer piece,an opening to its swivelable mounting on the report cover back isformed. In the swiveled-in state of the clip element, the report coverback and the report cover front and the documents inserted therebetweenare clamped between the retaining piece and the clip piece. Afterswiveling out, the clip element is not engaged anymore with the back andthe front of the clip report cover so that the paper stack or portionsthereof can be removed, or new documents can be added, or the removedpaper stack can be replaced by a bigger or a smaller one.

However, the known clip report covers with swivelable clip elements orclip elements that can be slid on are disadvantageous in that a clipreport cover previously used for a thick paper stack can not be usedagain satisfactorily for fixation of a thinner paper stack because theclamping force of the clip element or the elastic clamping effect of thematerial has weakened in the meantime, and the clip opening betweenretaining piece and clip piece has widened in the meantime, andtherefore, the documents can slip out. In this case, a complicatedhandling of the clip element is an obstacle for a reduction of the clipgap width.

The invention is based on the object to further develop a clip reportcover with swivelable clip element in such a manner that even in case ofrepeated use with reduced paper stack thickness, a secure clamping ofthe documents is ensured, and, furthermore, a simple handling of theclip element is ensured.

According to the invention, the object is solved with a clip reportcover configured according to the features of the patent claim 1.

For a generic clip report cover, the basic idea of the invention is thatthe clip edge of the clip piece is lowered below the clip plane of theretainer clip, this means, the clip gap width has a negative value sothat even in case of a reduced stack height compared to the previouslyclamped document stack, a sufficient clamping force is ensured. Thenegative clip gap width is preferably achieved in that the elastic clippiece plunges with its clip edge into a clip slot or into a roundedretaining piece groove formed within the retaining piece in such amanner that the paper stack is not only frictionally locked in place,but is also positively locked in place due to a small recess orindentation formed in the paper stack above the clip slot or in theretaining piece groove. A swivelably formed clip element is preferablyhinged at its lower end to the clip report cover or to the report coverback in such a manner that the clip element is arranged in anergonomically advantageous manner and, furthermore, with the clampingeffect improved according to the invention, can easily be moved with onehand. However, the clip element can also be retained on the clip reportcover in a slidable manner.

Advantageous developments and useful configurations of the invention arerevealed by the embodiment of a clip report cover exemplary describedbelow and by the sub-claims.

One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in more detail by meansof the drawing. In the Figures:

FIG. 1 a shows a top view of a clip report cover with swiveled-out clipelement;

FIG. 1 b shows a top view on an opened clip report cover according toFIG. 1 a, but with a swiveled-in clip element clamping a document stack;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic sectional view of a clip element with a clipslot and without document stack;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic sectional view of a clip element according toFIG. 2 with a clamped document stack;

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a clip element with clip slot;

FIG. 5 shows a top view of a clip element with a groove integrallyformed into the retaining piece; and

FIG. 6 shows a sectional view of the clip element according to FIG. 5.

The clip report cover 1 comprises a report cover back 15 and a reportcover front 3 connected with, viewed in the drawing plane, the left edgeof the report cover back by means of a fold 2. Starting from the fold 2,a window 4 is cut out from the report cover front 3. In the area of thewindow 4, a clip element 5 is attached which is rotatable about a pivotpoint 6. The substantially U-shaped clip element 5 consists of aretaining piece 7 and of a clip piece 9 which is integrally connectedwith the retaining piece by means of a connecting rib 8, and which iscurved and lowered towards the retaining piece 7. The clip element 5 ismade of an elastically deformable rigid plastic. The retaining piece 7,the inner surface of which is arranged opposite to the outer surface ofthe report cover back and which is formed longer than the clip piece 9,has in its lower section 10 extending beyond the clip piece, a bore hole11 by means of which, together with a rivet (not shown), the clipelement 5 is swivelably connected with the report cover back 15. In theswiveled-out position shown in FIG. 1 a, documents can be inserted orcan be removed. In the folded-out illustration of the report cover 1shown in FIG. 1 b, the clip element 5 extends across the report coverback and across a flap 21 which remains therein after cutting out thewindow 4, and which is connected with the fold 2. A document stack 16,which is inserted in the report cover 1 and which is also covered by theflap 21 in the area of the window 4, is hence clamped by the free clipedge 12 of the elastically configured clip element 5 in its swiveled-instate. When the clip element 5 is swiveled away from the fold 2 indirection of the arrow 13, the documents are free within the reportcover 1 and can be taken out as a whole or in parts.

Even in case of a considerable reduction of the height of the documentstack, the clamping effect of the repeatedly swiveled-in clip element 5,which extends across the report cover back and the document stack (alongwith the flap 21 remaining in window 4), is still maintained due to itsspecific configuration explained below. As the FIGS. 2 to 4 show,arranged in retaining piece 7 is a clip slot 14 which runs parallel tothe front edge of the retaining piece and which is arranged opposite tothe clip edge 12, into which clip slot the clip edge 12 according toFIG. 2 can plunge in the swiveled-in state of the clip element 5 so thatthe clip gap width can assume a negative value “a” and that hence theclamping effect can be increased. Because the report cover back 15 andthe document stack 16 are located above the clip slot 14 and cover thesame, as FIG. 3 shows, the clip edge 12 pushes the document stack 16together with flap 21 slightly into the clip slot 14, this means belowthe clip plane 19 of the retaining piece 7 so that, on the one hand, theclamping effect is increased and, on the other hand, the document is notonly frictionally locked in place, but is also positively locked inplace in a small recess 17. By means of the combination of afriction-locked and a positive-locked fixation, a height-reduceddocument stack 16 is still securely retained in the clip report cover 1during continued use.

For the simple handling of the clip report cover, the easy actuation ofthe clip element 5 is of importance due to the pivot point 6 at thebottom. The clip element 5 is arranged in an ergonomically advantageousmanner due to the pivot point 6 provided at the lower end of the clippiece 7 and thus can be easily actuated with a movement of the hand.Furthermore, the clip edge 12 of the clip piece 9 and the front edge 18of the retaining piece 7 are bead-like rounded to facilitate themovability of the clip element 5 and to provide a paper-preserving,nicely rounded recess 17 in the document stack 16. In addition, a partof the clip piece's 9 front side pointing towards the pivot point 6 isopened jaw-like (insertion jaw 22) so that the clip element 5 can easilybe slid on during swiveling-in.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show yet another embodiment of a swivelably configuredclip element 5, in the retaining piece 7 of which, instead of the clipslot 14, a retaining piece groove 20 is integrally formed in such amanner that the clip edge 12 of the clip piece 9 can be lowered belowthe clip plane 19 of the retaining piece 7. In the sectional viewaccording to FIG. 6, the nicely rounded configuration of the clip edge12, and of the retaining piece groove 20, and of the front edge 18 ofthe retaining piece 7 is shown.

REFERENCE LIST

-   1 Clip report cover-   2 Fold-   3 Report cover front-   4 Window-   5 Clip element-   6 Pivot point-   7 Retaining piece-   8 Connecting rib-   9 Clip piece-   10 Lower section of 7-   11 Bore hole in 10-   12 Clip edge of 9-   13 Arrow-   14 Clip slot-   15 Report cover back-   16 Document stack-   17 Recess in 16-   18 Front edge of 7-   19 Clip plane of 7-   20 Retaining piece groove, clip groove-   21 Flap-   22 Insertion jaw

1. A clip report cover for unpunched documents, consisting of a reportcover back (15) and a report cover front (3), and of a substantiallyU-shaped elastic clip element which extends across the report cover backand the report cover front in a swivelable or movable manner and whichhas a retaining piece (7) engaged with the report cover back and a clippiece (9) with a clip edge (12), which clip piece is elasticallyattached to the retaining piece by means of a connection rib (8) and islowered towards the front edge of the retaining piece (7), characterizedin that for the improvement of the clamping effect, the clip edge (12)of the clip piece (9) is lowered beyond a clip plane (19) of theretaining piece (7).
 2. The clip report cover according to claim 1,characterized in that the retaining piece (7) has a retaining piecegroove (20) which runs close and parallel to the front edge (18) of theretaining piece and which is arranged opposite to the clip edge (12) ofthe clip piece (9).
 3. The clip report cover according to claim 1,characterized in that the retaining piece (7) has a clip slot (14) whichruns close and parallel to the front edge (18) of the retaining pieceand which is arranged opposite to the clip edge (12) of the clip piece(9).
 4. The clip report cover according to claim 2, characterized inthat the clip edge (12) is shorter than the retaining piece groove (20),and is lowered into the same.
 5. The clip report cover according toclaim 2, characterized in that the retaining piece groove (20) and theclip edge (12) are formed rounded.
 6. The clip report cover according toclaim 1, characterized in that in the area of the report cover front (3)covered by the swiveled-in or slid-on clip element (5), a window (4) iscut, thereby forming a flap (21) remaining on the report cover back(15).
 7. The clip report cover according to claim 1, characterized inthat the clip element (5) consists of a thermosetting or metallic,elastically deformable material.
 8. The clip report cover according toclaim 1, characterized in that a swivelably configured clip element (5)is retained with its retaining piece (7) in a pivot point (6) at thereport cover back (15), and the clip piece's (9) part pointing towardsthe pivot point (6) is bulged to form a insertion jaw (22) forfacilitating the swiveling-in of the clip element (5).
 9. The clipreport cover according to claim 8, characterized in that the pivot point(6) is provided at the bottom of the clip element (5).
 10. The clipreport cover according to claim 3, characterized in that the clip edge(12) is shorter than the clip slot (14), and is lowered into the same.11. The clip report cover according to claim 3, characterized in thatthe longitudinal edges of the clip slot (14) and the clip edge (12) areformed rounded.
 12. The clip report cover according to claim 4,characterized in that the retaining piece groove (20) and the clip edge(12) are formed rounded.
 13. The clip report cover according to claim10, characterized in that the longitudinal edges of the clip slot (14)and the clip edge (12) are formed rounded.